The Los Alamos Hilltopper girls soccer team closed out its regular season with Senior Night and, in doing so, shut out the St. Michael’s Horsemen.
The Hilltoppers had numerous attack chances Thursday night at Sullivan Field, but couldn’t connect on those chances.
Midway through the second half, however, Hilltopper senior Amy Neal picked up a goal, assisted by another senior, Leslie Guarello, to give Los Alamos a 1-0 victory.
The game wasn’t particularly close, as the Hilltoppers finished with 18 shots on goal to the Horsemen’s 2. The Hilltoppers dominated ball possession throughout, but struggled to finish.
“We had a bunch of close calls, a bunch of corner kicks,” Hilltopper head coach Jiri Kubicek said. “We’ve got a couple of weeks to work on it and get that under control.”
Los Alamos scheduled St. Michael’s as a tune-up contest to help it get ready for the upcoming Class 4A playoffs. Los Alamos, which plays in one of the least competitive big-school districts in the state, wanted to make sure it got in a couple of tough games prior to the end of the 2012 regular season.
This year, it scheduled both Piedra Vista, which it defeated 2-0 Saturday in Farmington, and the Horsemen, a solid Class A-3A program.
Los Alamos (17-3) is in line for a top three seed in the 4A playoffs, which gives the team a bye to the quarterfinals but means it won’t play again until Nov. 8.
Hilltopper goalkeeper Bryce Theesfeld (.604 goals-against average) finished with 2 saves. She earned her ninth complete game shutout of the season.
Neal, meanwhile, scored her 32nd goal of the season. Her 84 total points is far and away the top total in either 4A or 5A throughout the state.

John McHale

Hilltopper senior Laura Wendelberger tries to dribble through the St. Michael’s defense Thursday night at Sullivan Field. The Hilltoppers had 18 shots on goal but only connected on one of them as they topped St. Michael’s 1-0. The game was the finale of Los Alamos’ regular season.